ST. CHARLES -- St. Charles North continued to rain goals and completed its championship reign over the Upstate Eight Conference River Division to the very end.

In advance of Tuesday’s second half of the Tri-City Night twinbill, Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said “I anticipate the first 10 minutes North will not only be ready to go, but will come hard like a heavyweight fighter. The question will be can we take those early punches and all the pressure?”

The North Stars came within seconds of fulfilling Gianfrancesco’s prophecy. With 10:02 gone in the game, St. Charles North's relentless attack to paid off when Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Claudia Najera’s picturesque header put the hosts on the path to victory.

In fairness, Batavia handled the pressure to a degree before the North Stars, ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, rolled to a 5-2 victory.

Forgive St. Charles North for perhaps shedding a tear over departing the Upstate Eight Conference, which shifted to divisions back in 2011, which was the last time the North Stars lost a loop contest (2-1 to Geneva on April 19, 2011).

The following campaign, the Vikings ruled at 5-0-1 with St. Charles North second at 4-0-2. Since that season, the North Stars have gone without a loss (38-0-5).

With the Tri-City Night’s four participants moving to the new DuKane Conference for 2018-19, the North Stars added this spring’s outright championship to those from 2016, 2014, and 2013. The 2017 title was shared with Geneva; the 2015 crown was shared with St. Charles East.

No. 16 Batavia needed a victory to dethrone St. Charles North but the possibility of overcoming a 2-0 halftime deficit felt virtually impossible after Hailey Rydberg converted consecutive penalty kicks to double the lead en route to a 5-0 advantage.

That lead guaranteed the hosts would complete the regular season unbeaten for the second-straight year -- 17-0-1 this season; and 15-0-3 prior to 2017 playoffs. Of course there were plenty of incentives for the North Stars, who have the state’s best one-two scoring punch in Gia Wahlberg and Hailey Rydberg.

“A nice night, the Tri-City atmosphere, the UEC title (with a 6-0-0 record), and a quality team like Batavia as the opponent were all motivation,” St. Charles North coach Brian Harks said. “As good as Gia and Hailey are, I was more impressed by all the supporting players. Chloe (Netzel) earning a penalty kick, our center mids won so many 50-50 balls, and the center backs did a nice job of containing their powerful strikers up-top.”

It took Rydberg 45 seconds to give Batavia starting goalie Katelyn Turnquist her first test with a left wing blast. A half minute after that, Chloe Netzel used the outside of her foot to force Turnquist to dive to her left for another stop. Then came a challenge from distance by Sami Rydberg as the home fans hungered for a score. The breakthrough came as defender Cece Wahlberg worked down a sideline and drew defenders to her as she angled inward. That’s where Najera patiently waited for the cross.

“Claudia was composed, and Cece delivered a perfect ball,” Harks said. “Once Claudia tucked it away and once we had that first one, we could relax a little bit and settle into our game plan.”

Najera's expectations of the play were fully realized.

“I knew Cece getting wide meant she’d cross it, and honestly she did all the work. All I had to do was finish it,” Najera explained. “She placed it perfectly, and I timed my jump, kept the head down and scored. It was a great feeling. Scoring always give us motivation to go 10 times harder.”

The goal was Najera’s 10th, and perhaps most important, goal.

“We knew they were going to come out quick and hard,” Gianfrancesco said. “I thought we calmed down some and began to settle in. However if you let someone play the middle often enough you’ll get hurt. That second goal was undeniable.”

Tailor-made for an instructional video, Hailey Rydberg earned her 11th assist in the production of Gia Wahlberg's 19th goal, which after a pivot was rocketed into the left half of the twine at 21:45 gone.

“Once again we continued to regain our composure and work on finding a counter,” said Gianfrancesco, whose team dipped to 13-3-2 overall and 4-1-1 in conference.

There was 7:26 to play prior to intermission when North keeper Sara Maleski had to make a genuine save on a solid shot by Grace Salyers.

Less than eight minutes into the second half, Netzel was fouled inside the box, and Hailey Rydberg parked the penalty kick to her left. Hailey Flanagan, who had taken over in goal for the Bulldogs, guessed correctly with her dive, but was simply too late. With 30:25 still to go, another penalty kick was called, and Rydberg nailed the encore, boosting her goal total to 19 and giving North a 4-0 lead.

“Once we get a PK, I pick out a spot and simply go up there with confidence,” Rydberg explained. “The trick then is to never change your thinking but simply follow through.”

The Bulldogs responded with a CeCe Hemann shot that was wiped out by an offsides whistle.

Then St. Charles North's Sam Rydberg, as she's done numerous times this season, gambled on a bomb from distance. Her strike went top shelf to her left under the crossbar for a 5-0 edge.

Senior back-up Nathalie Grier had just taken over in the North Stars goal for the final 15 minutes when Batavia got its first, and only, corner kick. Gracey DiBiase picked up her 10th assist for the year after her service led to an 11-yard header by CeCe Hamann. The Bulldog junior forward’s fifth goal kept her side from a shutout. The only time Batavia has been kept off the scoreboard was a 1-0 loss to Ames (Ia.) at the Tournament of Champions in Burlington, Ia.

With 5:37 remaining, the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit again as Grace Salyers nailed a shot from the right wing for her team-high 11th goal courtesy of Anna Holcombe’s sixth assist.

“This was definitely a character builder for us, and that’s something we really haven’t had this year,” Gianfrancesco said. “We did keep fighting, and we did manage to pull two back. We need to think of it as our last regular season game and focus on where to go from here. It’s not that we need to make big changes. North is a very good team, the kind that once they put the pedal to the metal they don’t let up.”

Batavia is the no. 3-seed within the 16-squad Geneva Sectional, and the Bulldogs open against 15th-seeded Glenbard North. A win advances them to the Hoffman Estates Regional final against either six-seed Conant or 11th-seeded Wheaton North.

With its pair of goals, Batavia became only the third opponent to score more than once in a game against St. Charles North. Early in the season, Barrington battled the North Stars to a 2-2 home draw and Geneva fought back from a 5-3 halftime deficit to lose 7-5.

The visitors don't plan to let the loss get into their heads.

“We need to remain positive and optimistic understanding this wasn’t our best effort and know they are a very good team,” Turnquist said. “As a goalie, whenever you give up a goal, it’s important to determine what you did wrong and make certain you don’t make the same mistake again.

“As goalies, we always have to refocus. Yes we may be the last man standing against an opponent, but you have to realize they had to go through everyone else to get to you.”

The target remains squarely on the North Stars' backs, and it only grows larger. The no. 1 sectional seed hosts a regional and opens against 16th-seed Addison Trail with an expected finale appearance against the 8-9-seeded battle between Bartlett and West Chicago.

St. Charles North goalie Sara Maleski figures they’ll continue using the same approach of taking the next game in front of them.

“Right now we can celebrate winning another conference championship, because that’s what we did do. Now we want to continue extending our season,” Maleski said. “I consider it an honor to play on a team that is so loaded with skill and passion.”